Life is full of a lot of many new and wonderful things and there is a first time for everything. This is one of those times for me. I hope that you enjoy my version of the book titled ’’The Hobbit’’ by J.R.R. Tolkien.
My very first book review, written by me and edited by my husband.
The Hobbit is about this wonderful little man who decided he needed to go on an adventure. But before I continue on let me explain what a hobbit is. From the BookHobbits are little people, smaller than dwarfs. They love peace and quiet and good tilled earth. They dislike machines, but they are handy with tools. They are nimble but don’t like to hurry. They have sharp ears and eyes. They are inclined to be fat. They wear bright colors but seldom wear shoes. They like to laugh and to eat (six meals a day) and drink. They like parties and they like to give and receive presents. They inhabit the land that they call the Shire, a place between the river Brandywine and Far Downs. You should also know that the writer Tolkien made an entire map of the villages, mountains, woods, tunnels, and many other wonderful places. These maps will help you understand the journey that a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins took.
Now lets continue on with the story. Bilbo, a hobbit of great stature, looked up to by many folks in the place called Shire, and very respected, decided by no will of his own to take an adventure. You see a wizard name Gandalf the Grey came and paid him a visit. Afterwards he marked the door of Bilbo’s house and that mark would allow these dwarfs to find him easier. Now the dwarfs were on a mission and they believed because Gandalf told them so, that Bilbo was an expert of burglary. Which meant he was a burglar and good at it. Now Bilbo had no idea that he was a burglar but he would learn the hard way to become one.
The dwarfs, 13 in all, needed a 14th person to travel with them because 13 would just not do, a lucky number is what they needed and that number 14 was Bilbo. They each came to visit Bilbo. There was Dwalin who came first to Bilbo’s house. Then there was Balin. Then there was Kili and Fili. Next came Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin and Gloin. Then came along Bifur, Bofur, Bombur and Thorin. Now Thorin was the head of this little troop of dwarfs. He was the heir to the throne of the Lonely Mountain. And he wanted his peoples treasures back. But first they had to get rid of this dragon named Smog first, which guarded the Mountain. And he guarded the treasure that was inside of the Mountain because he killed all of Thorin’s Kinfolk and stole it from them. And Thorin had managed to escape the dragon. Some of the other dwarfs did as well and some were born later, but you will have to read the book to find out how these 13 dwarfs came about being together.
In the beginning the dwarfs doubted that Bilbo was their man. But time and time again Bilbo proved them wrong.
Now after Bilbo got over the shock of being a ’’burglar’’ these 14 set out, with Gandalf’s help as well as the help of many other people along the way to get the treasure back from the dragon. They rode ponies, walked, and traveled miles and miles over hills and roads, and woods. And if memory serves correctly there were some barrels along the way. It’s in the book though.
They met some interesting people along the way. They fought goblins and trolls. They ate; they drank as much as they could. Which, was not to often because they eat most of their provisions each time they got restocked. They never did learn to be conservative with their food. They lost their ponies, they lost their supplies, and they lost their clothes. They had such a horrible time traveling. I felt so sorry for them. But these little guys kept me reading for more!
Now I mention that these 14 had met a lot of different people. There were spiders, Elron the Elf King, trolls, Beorn, goblins, orcs, wolves, people, elves, and many others. The book explains these characters as you read about them. I have to leave something for you to find out don’t I?
But I do have to tell you about a little creature that lived way down deep in the heart of the Misty Mountain. And at one time he was like a Hobbit and had come across a ring that he had acquired some 500 years before Bilbo came along to the Misty Mountain. You see Bilbo and the dwarfs were running from the Goblin’s that were trying to kill them and he got lost from the dwarfs. And along the way of crawling on the floor of the mountain he found this ring. (This would be The Ring, hence The Lord of The Rings. But you will have to read that part for yourself as well.) The creature under the Misty Mountain was slimy and nasty and he paddled around on a boat that he had gotten. His name was Gollum. And he and Bilbo had some very interesting conversation. And all along Bilbo thought the creature was familiar to him, and he found out why later on, but not in this book. You will have to read the next series like I am doing ’’The Lord of The Rings’’ to find out that part. Later on I may do a review on that series of books. We will see.
After leaving the Misty Mountain our little friends traveled on and with many more trials and tribulations they finally make it to where the dragon is guarding the treasure. Now at this time Bilbo has long found out what The Ring could do for him, and what he could do with The Ring. And he had to use it time and time again. And along the way the dwarfs decided that Bilbo was a fine burglar and could do great things.
When Bilbo snatched a treasure from the pile of treasures that the dragon slept on, this made the dragon really mad. But in Bilbo’s mind he had to prove to the dwarfs that he had seen the treasure and the dragon and that he was a good burglar. Well needless to say the dragon was really mad and he went out to search for the one who had stole his treasure. Did he find them? Well I am not going to tell you, nor am I going to tell you what happened to dragon. Read the book you will see for yourself.
After leaving the mountain Bilbo went home. He told his story to all who would listen. And his legend became one of the greatest known in the land of Shire. He also became an Elf friend in which was a rare thing and he was well known amongst the dwarfs and the elves and highly respected by them. But the people in the Shire didn’t think he should have left in the first place so Bilbo lost their respect and spent years trying to earn it back. But didn’t really care if he did or not!
This book was so very, very, very, very good. You will not want to put it down. There are all sorts of twists and turns and Mr. Tolkien can make you so mad at times with his snide remarks about finding things out later on, like I did with this review. Ha, Ha, Ha.
At any rate, the story is wonderful and I think that all should read it.
My husband and I have enjoyed talking about the tale so much. And he really enjoyed watching me read it and finding out where I was at in the book. He was so excited that I read it.
I was in my doctor’s office and two people told me how good it was and that one must read ’’The Hobbit’’ first to truly understand ’’The Lord of The Rings.’’ I have found that this is very true. Read it, you will be glad you did.
You should also know that I paid 4.88 (US dollars) at my local Wal-Mart. Prices do vary from store to store.
I hope that this has helped in some kind of way.
God Bless!
©LKD 2002